Last-second launch delay for SpaceX at historic moon pad

Marcia Dunn, Associated Press

February 18, 2017

Photo: HOGP

This photo provided by NASA shows a Space X Falcon9 rocket on the launch pad, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. SpaceX is launching space station supplies from the exact spot where Americans flew to the moon almost a half-century ago. The pad was last used in 2011 for NASAÂs final shuttle flight. This is SpaceXÂs first Florida launch since last summerÂs rocket explosion. (NASA via AP)

SpaceX halted the countdown with just 13 seconds remaining. The second-stage steering issue actually cropped up several minutes earlier. But with just an instant to get the unmanned Falcon rocket airborne, flight controllers could not resolve the problem in time.

Up at the International Space Station, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet had a light-hearted take on the delay.

"Looks like I'll have to wait one more day to get my French cheese ;)" Pesquet wrote via Twitter. He added: "We need all your cargo for @ISS-Research!"

SpaceX chief Elon Musk said engineers want to make certain the "slightly odd" position of an engine piston isn't representative of bigger trouble. It's not out of the question that Saturday's problem is somehow related to the minor upper-stage helium leak detected the day before, he reported.

There's a 99 percent chance everything is likely to be fine, Musk said in a tweet. "But that 1 percent chance isn't worth rolling the dice. Better to wait a day."

Thousands of guests had jammed the space center to witness the comeback of 39A, last used in 2011 for the final space shuttle flight. Disappointment was high when the urgent call of "hold, hold, hold!" sounded over the radio lines.

This will be SpaceX's first Florida launch since a rocket explosion last summer.